Born as Née Sonia Clarke in London, England on June 21st, 1968. Raised on the sounds that her mother played, Sonique was influenced by Roberta Flack, Glady Knight, Otis Redding and Denice Williams; however, it was her own discovery that was most meaningful. But another record made her crucial experience. "Music is something you’re born with," says Sonique. "I’ve always had this thing in me. The first record I bought was Donna Summer´s «I Feel Love», and that was the beginning of my life and my musical experience.
It reached a part of me other things didn't reach. I had known then that this is the music I like and I never left" she recalls. Meanwhile she was fronting a reggae band in her late teens. Sonique´s career as a recording artist began when she was signed to [Sonique] Cooltempo Records while still a teenager, resulting in an immediate club hit with "Let Me Hold You". The record entered the top 25 in the UK dance charts without any promotion. However, it was both as the singer and a songwriter for Mark Moore´s S´Express that she first entered the limelight, featuring on the minor hits "Nothing to lose" and "Find´em, Fool´em, Forget´em" in 1990 and 1992, respectively. "S´Express needed a singer and a songwriter, so I was asked to collaborate on the album «Intercourse», and I created my own style and identity," she says. "I didn’t realize what was happening, but I was proving myself."
With the same determination and precision that she applied to earlier achievements as an athlete (a runner), Sonique trained to be a DJ for a full three years at home before stepping out. "I knew I had to be really good as soon as I started," she says. "I am a woman, and I felt people were waiting to laugh at a woman who made mistakes. They wanted to see what I'd do next. Then I broke all records for the rate of success as a DJ. I was pulling in the crowd, making everybody dance.
The party would turn into something else." She has since made her mark as a DJ, partly helped by her unique improvised singing over her own uptempo House sets at clubs such as Cream in Liverpool, Gatecrasher in Sheffield, and Manumission in Ibiza, but also in Germany, USA, Singapore, Hongkong, Jamaica, Australia, Italy and Norway. This connection with global music fans strengthened her own understanding of what people like and how it effects them. "In England the pop records start at the clubs," she explains. "You hear the mix in the clubs first. Being a DJ helps me to see what people want when they go out partying." Sonique's unique skills are spellbound on a number of UK compilations, including "Introspective of House", "Third Dimension" (both 1997), "Fantazia", "British Anthems Summertime" (both 1998) and the Serious/Virgin release entitled "Serious Sounds of Sonique" (February 2000). The latest pearl in this chain is the double CD "DJ Sonique - Club Mix" (out since July 9, 2001).
In the meantime she enjoyed two club and dance music chart hits with "I Put A Spell On You" and "It Feels So Good" on Manifesto Records. "Spell " was originally released in the UK in June 1998 and peaked at #36 in the official single charts while "It Feels So Good", released in December the same year, climbed up to #24. The track has grown to a mainstream hit in the US, breaking into the national Top 10, and belatedly gave her a UK chart-topper in May 2000. On its first week of release it sold 195,000 copies, compared with the 32,000 total of the first time around.
Overthere in the US a club DJ in Tampa, Florida began spinning her song from an import 12" before several other clubs in the US joined in. This led to explosive requests for the song at radio and retail, so Republic Records jumped in and signed Sonique right away. Pushed by the tremendous success of this single she finished her debut solo album "Hear my cry" in 2000, guarded by the next single release "Sky", another excellent example of Sonique's talent for writing crowd-pleasing anthems. The record debuted at its peak at #2 in the UK single charts in September, followed by the re-release of "I Put A Spell On You" which peaked at #8 in November 2000. "Hear my cry" went on to become the UK's 42nd best selling album in 2000 - while the single "It Feels So Good" became the 3rd best seller in 2000. "Sky" and "I Put A Spell On You" became 70th respectively 179th best seller in the UK the same year. Her debut album has now sold over half a million albums in the UK alone.
With these successful single releases and a UK top ten album in her hand, Sonique topped other respectable nominees like Dido, Jamelia, PJ Harvey and Sade at the Brit Awards 2001. Pictures below showing her performing respectively in winning pose after receiving the honour as Best British Female Solo Artist.
